marinemammalspage - sea cow

SEA COW BY HAROLD LOVE

Manatee_(PSF).png

Manatee_(PSF).png

Manatee looking at the camera

Sea Cows live their entire lives in water. They live in rivers, swamps, estuaries, and water along the coast. Their tail is used for a paddle and their arms are made to steer. They look fat and are really not fat. They are very muscular. They have long lung for holding their breath under water and for buoyancy. The grow to be 4 meters long and weigh 1500 kg. They are endangered species because of human impact. They eat sea grass. (text from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirenia)
The sea cows have wrinkled faces and whiskers. They are related to the elephant. They migrate and are found in North, Central and South America. They can hold their breath up to 20 minutes. They and die from motor boats and by eating hooks and garbage. They also get caught in canal lock. There are only about 3800 sea cows left in the world. They have babies when they are 5 years old and only have one baby every 2 to 5 years.
http://www.savethemanatee.org/manfcts.htm